Jason - How many pounds of grapes are you processing? If not too many there
is a simple way to destem. I have a Eno crusher without the destemer
attachment. It's light weight and easy to move around and clean. I destem
through a 2-mesh stainless steel screen attached to a plywood frame that
fits over a 32 gallon trash can. I've used this for years with good
results. Monday afternoon I picked 233lbs Cabernet Franc in the back yard.
I crushed twice in about 10 minutes. I spent a couple of hours destemming
the batch using the 2-mesh screen. It's simple and very effective. All
stems, including the little jack stems, can be removed with a little care.
It would be nice to have a mechanized destemmer but since I already have the
Eno, and only crush two to three varieties of grapes each year this system
suits my operation. If you are interested I can send pictures of the screen
and frame...also smaller screens I use to deseed the must before and during
fermentation.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA


> wrote in message
ps.com...
> Hello-
>
> I found a great deal on a crusher and wine press but now I'm looking to
> either build/buy a destemmer. I know this was covered in great detail
> once before-
> http://groups.google.com/group/rec.c...d863d72c9a8404
>
> but I'm hoping that someone can provide photos of their destemmer- lots
> of digital pictures, and possibly permit me to post them on my website
> as examples. I'm collecting designs of 'build it yourself' equipment-
> it's fun, it's challenging, and it gets me out of the office enough to
> relax and not care about the job.
>
> Anyways- I could use some really good photos of the destemmer screens
> and fingers- just so that I could visualize how they work myself (I've
> never seen one yet in operation).
>
> Thanks much!
>
> Jason
>